Discussion

Good Eats Close to Hotel Best Western Centre-ville, Quebec?

We will be staying in Quebec City for 3 nights before heading to Montreal for the Labour Day long weekend from Toronto. Can some Quebec city local chowhounds point me to some good eats close to the hotel we will be staying at, because we do not intend to drive around in our car wasting time and money to find and pay for parking. The exact address is 330, rue de la Couronne. I spent 5 days in Montreal for Canada Day long weekend just couple weeks ago and thanks to all those chowhounds in Montreal we had splendid meals, cheap and costly alike, everyday without any disappointment. I kept 13 places in my gps and we went to 9 of them in 5 days since breakfast was included at the hotel. I am going to cover the other 4 this time when we return to Montreal for 3 days. I am planning for our days in Quebec City now so I would really like to know the must go dining places in the Quebec City down town core. Please give me a hand so that my whole family will be delighted and enchanted! We would like to have couple meals inside the walls too, if that is possible for us to walk there.

On a side note, is Place Laurier worhtwhile for us to go take a look??? The hotel has free shuttle service daily that can take us there. Thanks a bunch Quebec Chowhounds!

hi there, I live in Quebec City and some of the best restaurants close by the Best Western Hotel are the Boudoir Lounge, Versa, Pub du Cartier and many others.

You also have the more fast food restaurants only minutes away from that hotel. Valentines, Dunkin Donuts, Café Van Houte, Ashton, Subway and a tons of small restaurants with all kinds of cuisine from italian to vietnamese.

The downtown part of the City Centre is filled with restaurants so you and your family are bound to find something to your liking and budget!

As for the upper part of town, there's many restaurants as well, you actually have a McDonald, Subway, Ashton and Mikes that are more family like, else thre's a lot of other restaurant, but those are much higher priced.

Also, you won't want to miss the free show from Cirque du Soleil Les chemins Invisibles as well as Robert Lepage's Image Mill, both 5 minutes away from the Best Western.

As for Laurier Québec, you are right, they do offer free shuttle that takes you there. Laurier Quebec Mall is the biggest Mall in quebec and filled with boutiques and shops, like Zellers, FuturShop, HMV , Toy'r'Us, L'imaginaire is a must is you like anime, manga, comic books, or just want to buy some vintage stuff from movies and all.

Also I know that the shuttle also takes you all the way to the Aquarium of Quebec, so you might want to look into that as well during your stay in Quebec City.

If you have kids, you could also try the Galerie de la Capitale, they actually have an indoor small amusement park, ideal to amuse kids. Its a smaller mall than Laurier quebec but families do enjoy going there. here's the link http://www.mega-parc.com.

I hope this helps you out during your stay! Most important of all,have fun!!!

We will try Boudoir Lounge, Versa, Pub du Cartier for sure (if I can find their addresses on line through googling), because we will not be visiting any fast food chains like McDonald's and Subway for sure. We have all those here in Toronto so why bother, right? Beside sightseeing the very next endeavour of ours is to try some of the local food. We are only interested in Italian and French cusines while we are there so even Vietnamese will have to wait till we get to Montreal. The occasional poutine to go we do not mind. : )

Yes, we are planning to see the free show by Cirque du Soleil the day we arrive, and if it is too crowded we can try again the next day, and it is still too crowded we will try one more time on the last night we will be there. I have read up about the Robert Lepage's Image Mill on line, and I wonder if it is really worth seeing??? I have in mind the bodies show at the Science Centre and the mummies exhibition at the Musee of Civilisation. I know those two places are quite far from the hotel so we are debating whether we should go or not since our boy is only 4 years old. Last time in Montreal there was a day we walked all day to explore the whole underground city from one end to the other end before we took the Metro back to our hotel. Our son was so fatigued he almost wanted to cry! Sorry, son!

Since we will only have 3 days and 3 night in Quebec City we may skip the mall part, because going there and back to the hotel will cost too much time already since the shuttle does not go directly from our hotel to the Mall. Nevertheless, if the mall is not just being the biggest in Quebec, but also unique and handsome we won't mind taking the first shuttle at the hotel and come back on the first shuttle available for returning, but that will already be half a day gone.

We will go to the Galerie de la Capitale for sure, but I am not sure if we will have time to entertain our son there, because our time is very limited. I wish we had 5 days instead of 3, but the driving takes just too long to get there from Toronto.Therefore, for the return leg we want to stop over in Montreal for me to have a good rest before heading back to Toronto on Monday. I am the only person who will be doing all the driving, mind you.

If you're going to Galleries de la Capitale don't bother witht he other one. G de C are much more entertaining to a 4 year old. As for the Image Mill, it's really nice to watch especially on a nice envening if we ever have any more left this summer (should I even call this summer?).

The link above actually shows you how your hotel is minutes away from the Boudoir Lounge and other restaurants mentionned above.

As for the Image Mill, well it does start pretty late, I think its' around 10 p.m. and is further away than Cirque du Soleil. I haven't seen it personally so I can't comment on it. The reviews are actually mixed, but I would definately go see the BODIES exhibition instead since the Image Mill with be in quebec for the next 4 years. So you can always come back lol.

You can also take the bus there, I don't know the exact ones, but many are available just a few minutes away fro the hotel. I'm sure you can ask all the information to the people working at the hotel!

ince you have a 4 year old, he'll definatel enjoy the Galerie de la Capital instead of Laurier Québec. That mall isn't really kid friendly, its more for the young adults and students going to college and university. So be sure to go at Galeries de la Capitale, even if its only a few hours, there's plenty of fun activities your kid will enjoy.

I am debating whether to take Via Rail instead of driving. If we do decide to take the train, then we will not need to stop over Montreal on the way back so we can spend all 5 days in Quebec City for a more relaxed vacation. I have booked and paid for the Best Western in Quebec City already for the first three nights, but I have not booked the hotel for Montreal yet so plans can still be changed.

Yup, I have found all three resto addresses using my gps, but it took me some time, because my gps does not have the new name of that street.

I have to consult my wife if she is up for the Bodies show, because when the show came to Toronto couple year ago at the Ontario Science Centre I missed it since my son was still too young to stroll around with patience. I definitely want to see it if it is not too far to walk from the hotel.

My in-laws shuttle between Toronto and Quebec City quite often and they always chose to take the train between Toronto and Montreal and then the bus between Montreal and Quebec City as the bus runs more often than the train. That's assuming a stopover in Montreal is what you would like, of course. And when bypassing Montreal, they also often take the plane.

since you are in the Vity of Quebec, the downtown and upper town have limited parking spaces. So finding a parking spot can be quite the pain in the behind.

There's counters, and during some days at certain hours, you must pay to park your car there. They are several parking lots but to average prices around around 12$, while others charge per hour and that can become pricy as well.

It is probably why your hotel offers Valet Parking, to minimize the problems of self parking and all.

I know that their must exist a website with all the parking spots in quebec city and information, but I have yet found it lol.

Okay, we definitely will leave our car at the hotel and venture out on foot. I wish Quebec City had Metro like Montreal does. I guess the population in Quebec City does not justify a subway system?

Any way, I will plan carefully with the time we will have in Quebec ctiy, and hopefully we can cover most of things we want to do in 3 full days. I am told the walk from the hotel to the Old City is an all uphill 15 minute one and I hope my son can handle that daily when we head down to the fortified city.

Thanks once again, and if you ever decide to visit Toronto I will certainly give you a hand on planning your itinerary.

Unless I'm mistaken, you don't have to go uphill at all - you can take the road that leads to the train station/market, and it keeps you at the same lower level until you hit the old town. Once you're in the old town, you go a bit uphill. Otherwise, you will be heading way way uphill, just to head back downhill...

Thanks and that is good to know. We stayed right outside the city gate last time so it was a piece of cake for us to get in the fortified city, but this time it is way over there in down town and we have heard about the walking from friends who stayed at Best Western before and we began to worry a bit since we have a 4 years old.